


A Truth So Loud I Can't Ignore

by bluegreenlarry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band);
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crushes, Enemies to Lovers, Louis gets turned into a kitten, M/M, Prefect Louis, Ravenclaw Louis, Slytherin Harry, oblivious boys in love, troublemaker harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:55:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluegreenlarry/pseuds/bluegreenlarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a loud bang, then a shout and then only absolute silence. Harry slowly raised his head. Oh Merlin.<br/>A small grey kitten was sitting on Louis Tomlinson’s seat. And Louis was nowhere to be seen. But the kitten had huge blue eyes which reminded Harry terribly of Louis’. Fuck. He swallowed. Could it be…</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Harry is a troublemaker and Louis is a prefect. They might secretly like each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Truth So Loud I Can't Ignore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Roxygrl803](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxygrl803/gifts).



> I hope you like this! All of your prompts were wonderful but I am a huge Harry Potter nerd so I went with this one.  
> To my beta: Thanks so much, I love you Emma!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own One Direction and this is (sadly) only fiction.
> 
> Happy reading!

Harry didn’t dislike many people. He was friendly with almost all of his housemates, he considered himself mates with a lot of people, and he was fairly popular. But if one person in the castle really got on his nerves, it was Louis Tomlinson. Prefect of the Ravenclaw house. Quidditch Keeper. Top student. And also the very bane of Harry’s existence. He was just so overly smooth and perfect, and it seemed like Harry was the only one who saw through his good-boy-façade. It also didn’t help that Louis loathed Harry. On their very first encounter in the Ravenclaw bathroom Louis had decided to hate Harry for reasons that he hadn’t ever been informed about, and since then their mutual dislike had only grown. Sometimes, in weak moments – such as while watching a sweaty Louis after a match, sliding off his broom – Harry almost forgot why they were arch enemies, but then when Louis threw him a dirty look over his shoulder, he felt the familiar irritation bubble up in his throat again.

Harry had a little reputation as a troublemaker, and he fully enjoyed taking the piss out of Louis now and then. There was something so exquisite about the way an angry blush settled on the other boy’s high cheekbones whenever Harry gave him a sassy response or teased him. He didn’t even know how many house points Slytherin had lost in the past 5 years because of him, but he knew for a fact that since Louis was prefect, the number had increased even more. After a while Harry made half of his jokes and pranks only to rile Louis up, to watch his blue eyes turn into slits and have him hiss threats at Harry. Harry loved it, and he didn’t even know why.

When he had told Niall, he had only laughed and muttered something about the two of them being “fucking stubborn and blind, Merlin’s balls” but Harry didn’t know or care what that was supposed to mean. It was Niall Horan after all. Niall loved Louis though, as did all of Harry’s friends, which was the reason he was dragged to the Ravenclaw table at dinner and had to listen to Louis’ annoying voice for twenty minutes now. 

“…and we trained so hard for the game, Hufflepuff won’t have a chance. I mean, they might have you, Nialler, but your keeper sucks, while Gemma is in top form. She’s definitely gotten the good genes of the Styles family.” Louis gave Harry a smirk and shoved a spoon full of peas into his mouth. Harry scowled. “Really, Tomlinson? I guess I don’t have to talk about who’s got the good genes in your family, considering that Lottie has about fifty admirers standing around her right now, while you are still lonely. Doesn’t it get boring to spend your days studying and training?” Harry knew very well that Louis had many, many admirers and that he had other hobbies than being a little bitchy fuck, but it was worth it seeing the oh so familiar red on his cheeks. “Shut your mouth about my sister, Styles – ““- I was complimenting her, chill – ““Well I don’t want you to compliment her!”

“Please shut up, both of you.” Liam threw them both an angry look. “I don’t care about your weird mating ritual or whatever, but be fucking quiet during dinner, for the love of Merlin.” ‘Mating ritual’, sure. As if Harry even considered feeling any kind of attraction towards Louis ‘I can do everything better than you’ Tomlinson. Okay, Louis was objectively not the ugliest person to ever walk the earth, and Harry had to admit that he was possibly a little bit attractive. But his personality destroyed it.

“Ha.” Louis stood up and knocked his elbow into Liam’s shoulder. “Styles and me? Never.” Harry gritted his teeth. “What, do you think I’m not good enough for you?” Niall sighed loudly and turned to Zayn, engaging him in a conversation about their potions class. Apparently he was tired of their endless bickering. “I wouldn’t touch you with a stick.” Louis spit. “And I literally just broke up with my girlfriend, so shut up.” Right, Louis’ girlfriend. Eleanor. She was pretty, nice and good friends with Gemma – and Harry still disliked her. He didn’t really know why. But it seemed like she wasn’t with Louis anymore anyway. “Why did you break up? Was she tired of your boring arse?” Harry wondered and chuckled when the other boy huffed out an annoyed breath and walked away, not without flipping his middle finger in Harry’s direction.

Liam looked at him reproachfully. “You didn’t have to say that, prick. Imagine how you would’ve felt when he’d mocked you last year when Xander broke up with you.” Harry cringed. “That was different” he mumbled, but a heavy feeling grew in his stomach. Was he… guilty? Because of Louis Tomlinson? Merlin, what had his life become. He stood up, sighing, and promised Liam to look for Louis and apologize. Ugh.

Walking out of the Great Hall, he paused. Where might Louis be? Library, his brain suggested. Right. Harry hurried upstairs, cursing Liam. Fuck him for making him feel guilty because of Tomlinson’s feelings. As expected, Louis sat on one of the tables in the library, reading a book and looking absolutely absorbed in it. Harry watched him quietly for a seconds, fascinated with the way his lips moved, silently forming the words he was reading, until he snapped himself out of his daze and blinked. What the fuck was wrong with him.

“Accio Louis’ book” he whispered and grinned in satisfaction when the book flew into his hand. He studied the cover for a moment – something about runes – and looked up, meeting Louis’ eyes. The other boy looked furious, but he seemed to remember the ‘no loud talking in the library’ rule (one that Harry usually didn’t really follow) and stood up, grabbing Harry’s wrist roughly and pulling him outside. “What’s your fucking problem?!” He shouted once they were standing on the corridor. “If I fail the test tomorrow – “Harry smirked lazily. “Relax. You’ll survive. I just have to say one thing really quickly, yeah?” He paused and swallowed. Louis had let the bitchy expression fade and was looking up at Harry through his eyelashes now. “Aha.”

Why was he even doing this? Louis sure as hell had already forgotten about his careless comment. But he’d promised Liam, and disappointing him was not an option. “Look, what I said at lunch? About Eleanor and you? I didn’t mean it. I’m sorryifIhurtyourfeelings.” Harry’s little speech got rushed towards the end and he closed his mouth after saying the last word, breathing out through his nose. 

Louis had a little smile on his face and he bumped his elbow into Harry’s hip gently. “I know it was just your big mouth and you didn’t mean anything bad.” He ignored Harry’s quiet “Hey!” and continued talking. “But seriously, Styles. Thanks for apologizing.”

Harry smiled back before he caught himself and cleared his throat. He still didn’t like Louis. Seriously, no. “But can I ask why you really broke up?” The moment after he’d said the words out loud, he wanted to take them back, but Louis didn’t seem angry or offended. “Oh, you know. It just wasn’t working out between us, you know? She’s great, but nothing for me, if you know what I mean.” Harry didn’t know what he meant, but he sure as hell was not gonna ask and make Louis think he was even more daft than Louis probably already thought he was. 

“Oh.” was his response and he slowly backed away. “I gotta go to class.” He announced and gave the other boy an awkward wave. “See you.” 

“Bye Styles.” Louis’ voice sounded almost crestfallen, but that might have been all in Harry’s head. What the fuck is wrong with you, he asked himself again, the tenth time this day.

*  
“What do you think will happen if I put this into Louis’ potion?” Harry murmured and showed Niall a little bottle. “What the fuck is in there?” Niall asked alarmed, but Harry ignored him and grinned. “Let’s find out.”

He stood up and casually walked by Louis’ table, who was turning away to talk to Stan, and quickly poured a couple drops in this caldron. The liquid in there made a quiet hissing sound and turned slightly yellow. How boring. Harry sat down again and pouted. He’d taken a huge risk (professor Slughorn was known for being very strict about manipulating others) and nothing really happened. Sighing deeply, he concentrated on his own potion. A drop of water, then two apple tree leaves…

There was a loud bang, then a shout and then only absolute silence. Harry slowly raised his head. Oh Merlin.

A small grey kitten was sitting on Louis Tomlinson’s seat. And Louis was nowhere to be seen. But the kitten had huge blue eyes which reminded Harry terribly of Louis’. Fuck. He swallowed. Could it be…

“Who of you did this?” Slughorn broke the silence, looking around in the classroom. Harry avoided his gaze and bit his lip. “Styles?” Well, that was that. He opened his mouth and breathed deeply. “I swear this wasn’t what I intended. This is – you can fix it, right? I didn’t know something like that could happen.” He wasn’t lying, he really hadn’t expected this to happen. But his professor obviously didn’t believe him. “In my office, now. Horan, you come with us. Payne, please bring Tomlinson. And Lucas, you go and tell Flitwick that Tomlinson might be stuck like this for a few days.” 

A few days? Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes. Fuck. Niall gave him an annoyed glance and followed their teacher, Liam, who had picked up the kitten, and Zayn behind him. Harry’s stomach knotted up, but there was a tiny part of him that enjoyed the situation. At least Tomlinson wasn’t there to make fun of him – or, he was there, but not able to make fun of him. Even better.  
When they sat down in Slughorn’s office, Flitwick was already there, sitting on an old padded chair. He let out a snort upon seeing them. “Tomlinson as a cat? How did this happen? Don’t look so surprised, Styles – word travels fast here, and I already know that that little bundle over there in Payne’s arms is Tomlinson. Say, are you the reason for this?” Harry swallowed again and turned to Niall, seeking help, but his friend only shrugged. “Uhm – yes sir. But I swear it was an accident, I slipped…”

Slughorn coughed and patted his shoulder. “We all know about your little rivalry with Mr. Tomlinson. So please don’t lie. But I am sure you are happy to hear that he will turn back to his human form soon. Until then, it’s your job to take care of him.” What? Oh Merlin, please no. “And by taking care I mean feeding him, letting him sleep in your dorm room, basically taking him everywhere with you.” Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Zayn beat him to it. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t –“

“No, I am sure this is a great way for Styles to learn not to fool around anymore. If I hear about you not obeying these instructions, there will be consequences. Now leave, all of you. Take the cat with you, will you?” Flitwick made a shooing motion with his hands and closed the door behind them. There was a short moment where they all looked at each other wide-eyed, then suddenly the kitten meowed and clawed against Liam’s neck.

“H, you take him.” Liam hastily pressed the tiny cat against Harry’s chest and smiled a bit uncomfortably. “What? You know I don’t like cats.” he defended himself. Harry wasn’t listening – all of his attention was on the little ball of fur in his arms. He’d always been a cat person – and Louis turned out to be a really, really cute cat. His little paws, his long tail, the soft fur… If he didn’t know that this was his arch-nemesis, Harry might go as far as saying that he was the cutest of all cats he’d ever seen. But this was still Tomlinson, just in an upgraded form.

“We should give him a name, it’s so weird to call him Louis.” Niall grinned. “How about… Tommo? You never call him that anyway, there would be a clear separation of the human Louis and the kitten Louis.” Harry thought about it for a second, then nodded. “I mean – better than calling him Louis. Louis is such a pretentious name.” But apparently the kitten still understood them, because he bit Harry’s bicep and let out a growl that sounded more like a purr. Zayn and Niall cooed at him, but Harry cursed. “Stop that, you monster. Your teeth are sharp. Oh my god, how am I gonna survive this?”

*

 

As it turned out, Louis hadn’t become less annoying as a cat. The only difference was that he was endearing while getting on Harry’s nerves, and this was a fact that couldn’t be ignored. Harry caught himself watching the kitten fondly more than once. He couldn’t help himself. But everything Louis – or Tommo, as Niall still called him – did was something he had to coo about. Even worse, he voluntarily let him sleep in his bed, cuddled him in his arms. And contrary to his apprehensions, he only had a tiny scratch-mark on his shoulder and not all over his face. Louis seemed to be really careful not to scratch and bite him, which was weird, considering that if roles were reserved, Harry would probably give Tomlinson a few harmless marks. Currently he was lying on his bed, Louis on his stomach, and reading. Well, pretending to read. More like watching the kitten chase his own tail and jump around. 

Zayn entered, giving him an eyebrow raise. “Harry. Xander’s outside. D’you wanna talk to him, or…?” 

Shit. Harry froze and let out a silent breath. “Can I… not? Tell him I’m busy, or something.” He wasn’t ready to talk to his ex-boyfriend again, even though they had broken up nearly a year ago. Things just had ended badly, and while he wasn’t scared of getting in trouble with teachers and prefects, he still hated personal fights and confrontations. It wasn’t like he still felt something for Xander, he just disliked the entire situation.

His friend sighed. “You can’t avoid him forever, man.” Harry pressed his lips into a thin line and shrugged. “I can try. And that’s none of your business, is it?” Immediately, he felt guilty for letting his frustrations out on Zayn, but he turned away and waited for him to leave. When he did (after he’d grumbled incoherent things about Harry’s stubbornness), he burrowed his head in his pillow and let out a silent scream. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He needed to grow up, damn it.

There was a soft touch at his hip. Harry raised his head and wiped his moist eyes. The kitten was rubbing its head against his bare stomach and meowed quietly. He picked it up and cuddled it to his chest. “I’m just so tired of this” he confessed in a whisper. “Everybody knows how immature I am and secretly judges me for it.” Why was he telling this to a cat? Even worse – his worst enemy? But for some reason, he didn’t care. Louis wouldn’t hold this against him once he was capable of talking again, would he? Making sure, Harry gently tickled the kitten’s ears. “This stays between me and you buddy.” He really didn’t see the kitten as Louis Tomlinson. Louis Tomlinson wouldn’t purr into his chest while licking his paws. And he also wouldn’t be able to calm Harry down like the cat was doing right now. His eyes closed almost automatically, and he drifted off in a deep, peaceful sleep.

*

Waking up, Harry’s mind registered three things. One, there was hair in his mouth. And it didn’t belong to himself. Two, he had his arms wrapped around someone else. Three – this someone was Louis Tomlinson. 

He sat up so quickly that his head spun for a second. Merlin. Obviously Louis had turned back into his human form, and they hadn’t noticed. What he did notice was the way Louis’ stomach moved while he breathed and how soft his hair looked and how long his eyelashes were and – 

Louis opened his eyes. Harry flinched back. Apparently he had leaned forward to stare at Tomlinson, which. Well. He did not want to think about that. There were more important things, for example how confused Louis looked.

“Where am I? Styles?! Did we -” “No!” Harry blushed and looked away. “Uhm, do you remember the last few days?” They looked at each other and Louis’ eyes widened. 

“Oh my god.” He whispered. “Oh my god!” He repeated, louder this time. “Harry Styles, you did not transform me into a kitten, did you? Please tell me I am dreaming.” Cringing, Harry gave him a helpless shrug, as if saying ‘Sorry, can’t’. He hadn’t meant for that to happen, how often did he have to say this? It wasn’t his fault a drop of olive oil would turn his classmate into a fluffy kitten.

Something hit his chest, and he jumped up. Louis was scowling at him, the pillow in his hand. “You arse!” he screamed. Harry stuck his tongue out and regretted it a second later. How old was he again? Fuck this. He snatched the pillow from the empty bed beside his – Jonny was already at breakfast – and hit back, and within seconds there was a huge pillow fight. He met Louis’ eyes and they grinned at each other. Shivering from the intensity of the glance, he slowly held out his hand.

“Truce?” he asked, and Louis gripped his fingers tightly. 

“Okay.”

*

“Hi Harry.” Fucking shit. Harry slowly turned around and smiled at Xander. “H-hello.” Please go away, he thought. He wasn’t lucky. “Do you think we could talk?”

“Uhm…” He frantically tried to find an excuse, but his brain didn’t work. Xander gave him a toothy grin and pulled him to a big window in a corner. “Listen, I just wanted to ask if you want to go out with me sometime? I mean, we didn’t really finish on good terms, and I miss you.”

Oh Merlin, what the fuck. Harry swallowed. “I – “

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his waist and turned around. Blue eyes glistened at him with mischief and he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Thank god. “Harry.” Louis greeted him loudly and pulled him closer by his waist. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Xander furrowed his eyebrows, but Harry didn’t care. “Sorry” he said, without sounding apologetic at all. “I have to go now. See you!” Without waiting for an answer, he hurried away and clutched Louis’ wrist tightly, dragging him with him. 

When there was enough space between them and his ex-boyfriend, he stopped and let go of Louis. “Thank you.” He’d never noticed how… pretty Louis was until now. His head couldn’t deal with this new information, so he pushed it at the back of his mind and threw his arms around the other boy. “Seriously, thanks mate. He tried to ask me out again, can you believe it? After he broke up with me to be with George – “ Harry’s cheeks turned red. Louis surely didn’t care about that, did he? But he was hugging him back, and giggling softly into Harry’s ear.

“No problem. After your reaction yesterday, I figured you weren’t too keen on getting back together.” 

“You remember that?” Surprised, Harry loosened his grip on Louis’ shoulders. For some reason, he had expected Louis to not know any details from the last few days anymore. Cat Louis and the real Louis were just too different to be the same person. But on the other hand, he started to see their similarities. For example, how the way Louis was rubbing his nose was the same movement as the kitten had. And the eyes. Those deep blue eyes dug their way into Harry’s heart and he didn’t understand why. But certain was, that the hatred he’d once felt for the prefect had been replaced with a different emotion. It almost felt like affection. But why would he feel affection for Louis Tomlinson? The same boy who had ratted him out to Flitwick in their first year when he’d tried to spend the night with Niall? The same Louis who helped everyone with their schoolwork except for Harry, even if he was failing half of his courses? It couldn’t be, could it?

“Of course” said boy scoffed and blinked at him. “I remember everything. And that was like the first time I actually saw you serious, so…”

Right. Because Louis thought he was the least mature person in the castle and apparently wasn’t capable of having feelings. Harry clenched his teeth and brought some space between them. “I better go.” He mumbled and turned around. A confused “Bye” was the last thing he heard before he started sprinting away. 

Liking Tomlinson, alright. Was this really going to be a thing now? Merlin, he wished he’d never accidentally turned his arch enemy into a cat.

*

“Liam.”

“Harry. If you don’t shut up and let me study I will kick your arse, and I’m serious right now.” Liam gave him a warning look and Harry pouted. He was so bored. 

“But it’s so boring here, Li” he whined and played with his wand. They were sitting in a back corner of the library, studying for their upcoming charms exam. Well. Liam was studying. Harry was trying not to die of boredom and figuring out ways to not have to take the exam, because he sucked at charms. “Then go away.” Liam huffed. He didn’t even look up at Harry. His pout grew. 

“Fine.” Standing up he took his book and marched away. “See you later!”

“No yelling in the lib- oh, it’s you.” Louis squinted at him, his hands on his hips. He wore his prefect’s badge and his hair was in a high quiff. If Harry was being honest, Louis looked good. Better than good. Beautiful. Pushing these forbidden thought away, he smirked at the smaller boy. “It is me.”

“How’s studying going?” His facial expression must have darkened, because Louis gave him a pitiful look. “D’you want me to help you?”

What? Harry’s mouth opened on its own, but no words came out. Was he dreaming? Louis was offering to tutor him? “What the fu- I mean, yes. Please. But I’m kind of hopeless, so like. Are you sure?” Louis nodded enthusiastically. “C’mon. It’s not hard, I promise.”

“For you maybe not.” Harry grumbled as they sat down. “I suck. It never does what I want it to do. Look, when I am trying to illuminate this bug – “he pointed his wand at the insect “- it always does this.” The bug turned bright green. Louis nodded and softly touched his arm. “It’s the motion. You’re doing nothing, you’re just pointing at it. But you have to do a little circle with your wrist and it’ll work.”

Harry tried and started grinning when the bug was sending out a weak glow. “I did it!” “Yeah, babe, that was great for the first try with the motion.” Louis praised and the endearment sounded so natural that Harry almost didn’t notice it. Almost. (He blushed and had to bite down a squeal like a twelve years old. It was embarrassing.)

“Good, can you teach me the twenty other charms I failed to learn the hand motions to too?” he asked instead of acknowledging the ‘babe’. Louis giggled – Merlin, he had giggled more in the last few days than Harry had in his whole life and it made his chest constrict painfully with feelings – and leaned closer.

Two hours later, Harry leaned back and let out a noise that somehow resembled a groan. “This was the most I have ever learned in such a short time. You should become a teacher.”

“Yeah, I… I want to. I’m not sure though if I have the authority for it.” the other boy confessed in a whisper and Harry let out a small laugh. “Are you serious? You are a great prefect and you’ll be an even greater teacher. Everybody respects you, Lou.” Apparently Louis wasn’t the only one who liked nicknames. Well.

Louis swallowed. “You didn’t.”

For a few seconds Harry didn’t know what he meant, but then it hit him. “Oh my god, no. Louis. I’ve always thought how much control you have and that you’re doing a better job than any of the other prefects. I swear when I was poking fun at you it wasn’t because I thought you were an easy target. Quite the opposite, honestly. And also because you didn’t like me so I had to get my revenge.”

“I never did not not like you, H. Is that what you thought? I was jealous of how carefree you were. It didn’t help I’ve had an embarrassing crush on you since third year…”

Harry surged forward and pecked Louis’ lips. “You idiot.” He whispered. “But we can make up for the lost time. Be my boyfriend?”


End file.
